January 14, 2026
Wallet Royale erupts
Epic fined €1.1M over manipulating children through in app purchases
Court says Fortnite pushed kids to buy; fans call €1.1M a joke
TLDR: A Dutch court upheld a €1.1M fine against Epic for pressuring kids to buy Fortnite items using scarcity and timers. Commenters are split between calling it predatory FOMO and just normal marketing, with many mocking the fine as pocket change and asking whether real protections for kids will follow.
The Dutch court just told Fortnite maker Epic to cough up €1.1M after the ACM (the Dutch consumer watchdog) said the game’s in-store ads pushed kids to spend with scarcity and ticking clocks. Cue the comment section meltdown. One ex-skin addict relived a teen tantrum for a “must-have” outfit and branded the whole scarcity game “manipulation.” Others crunched numbers: Epic made about $6B in 2024, so €1.1M is pocket change. The meme du jour: “press F to pay €1.1M.”
Not everyone’s grabbing pitchforks. A vocal crew is defending Epic: selling virtual outfits and dances in a free game like Fortnite isn’t the same as “manipulating children,” they argue—FOMO (fear of missing out) is just marketing. Meanwhile, skeptics call it a “slap on the wrist” and ask if the Netherlands already has kid-safety rules Epic ignored, pointing to earlier fines when Epic used timers to show how long items stayed available.
Behind the drama: Fortnite is free, but players pay for looks, emotes, and bragging rights; its Battle Royale pits 100 players against each other, while the item shop quietly prints money. The real fight in the comments? Where’s the line between normal sales tactics and exploiting kids’ impulse buying. The community is split, the jokes are sharp, and regulators like ACM are watching
Key Points
- •A Dutch court upheld an ACM-imposed fine requiring Epic Games to pay about €1.1 million.
- •The ACM found that Fortnite’s in-game advertising manipulated children into purchases via scarcity and time pressure.
- •Fortnite is free but monetizes through sales of virtual items like outfits and dances, earning billions annually.
- •Epic previously removed an in-game timer showing item availability; it had been fined for that and did not contest that fine.
- •Fortnite includes multiple components, with Battle Royale being the most prominent mode with up to 100 players.